Wire printer



March 19, 1Q57 R. B. JOHNSON' 2,785,627

WIRE PRINTER Filed Oct. 7, 1953 1 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. REYNOLD B, JOHNSON ATTORNEY nited States Patent WIRE PRINTER Reynold B. Johnson, Palo Alto, Calif., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 7, 1953, Serial No. 384,697

18 Claims. (Cl. 101-93) This invention relates to document preparing machines and more particularly to wire printers used therein and by which a character is formed as a closely spaced pattern of dots by pressing the print ends of wires selectively displaced from the remaining ones of a cluster of such ends against recording material on a platen.

In earlier forms of wire printers, printing was accomplished by a device which engaged the other ends of the print Wires forming the character pattern and forcibly moved them against the platen. Since print wires are held against lateral deflection, slight misalignments of the printing ends of the selected wires resulted in the nonuniform printing of the dots of each character. To overcome these deficiencies, another type of wire printer was developed.

That wire printer was disclosed in the copending U. 8. application Serial No. 255,391 of Reynold B. Johnson, filed November 8, 1951, now Patent No. 2,730,040. A uniform printing of high clarity is obtained from this printer by providing for controlled longitudinal movement of the printing wires under the impact of the printing stroke. This was accomplished by restraining the wires against free endwise movement in every position and withdrawing the wire setting device from contact with the print wires before the printing ends thereof were engaged by movement of the platen toward the print wires. Under such an arrangement all the pattern forming wires may be restored slightly under the action of the platen and each will engage the ribbon with the same pressure regardless of any longitudinal misalignment.

Thus, a uniform impression of the component dots of each character is assured.

Such a construction, however, requires that the platen, together with the paper or other material being printed upon, and the ribbon be moved to the print ends of the wires. This is undesirable in that the space which must be provided, not only for such movements but also for the apparatus for effecting such movements, comes out of the document preparing machine printing zone which is already crowded and wherein any available space may also be used for other advantageous purposes. Moreover, such construction entails the shifting of large masses with attendant large energy expenditures and hence is necessarily heavy. recording material, such as a tape, to tearing and stretch ing because of the rapid movements involved in high speed printing. Such construction, in addition, does not easily admit of transverse relative movements between the print ends and the platen to permit repeat printing along lines perpendicular to recording material feed without cumbersome attachments. Furthermore, the movement of the loosely held recording material to the print ends allows the possibility of relative transverse movement which could adversely aiiect the quality of the printing.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a wire printer which effects a uniform printing of high It also entails the subjection of the 2i clarity and requires only a minimum of space in the printing zone of a document preparing machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wire printer in which the recording material is not subjected to deformation and which does not produce a smudged printing.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a wire printer wherein printing may be effected at adjacent points with the same wire print ends and without requiring a shifting of the recording material.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a wire printer that is simple and easy of construction and yet accurate and reliable in operation.

According to the invention, instead of moving the recording material against the print ends of the preset print wires yieldably held against endwise movement as was done formerly, provision is made for moving the print ends of such yieldably held wires against a relatively fixed platen without disturbing their selective longitudinal displacement. A movable print head supports the print ends of the wires for movement toward and away from a relatively fixed platen and is operated from a remote point. Through this construction a minimum of space is required in the document preparing machine printing Zone While a high quality printing is obtained, for the recording material which cannot readily be uniformly and accurately moved at printing speeds is allowed to remain stationary while the print ends of the wires which can be accurately controlled are moved.

A wire printer of this character involves the use of a character pattern forming means which is operable against the other or control ends of the print wires to etiect a selective axial displacement thereof resulting in the formation of a desired character pattern on the grouped print ends of the wires. Provision is made for restraining the wires against free endwise displacement so that the wires will hold their settings after the character pattern forming means is withdrawn for adjustment to a new character setting. At their control ends the wires are held by rigid guide means, and from this guide means the wires extend away in curved tubes which are secured at their remote ends to the print head. The print head is slidable toward and away from a platen and carries with it the other ends of the tube. The print ends forming the character pattern project from the corresponding tubes and will strike the recording material to imprint the character pattern during the print head movement. Thereafter, the wires, which may rebound slightly under the printing impact, are fully restored by a suitable device. The character pattern forming means which in the meantime may have been adjusted to a new character setting is then again moved against the other ends of the print wires held by the guide means to form a new character pattern on the print ends of the wires.

According to another feature of the invention, the print head is mounted to move transversely relative to the recording material and the platen so that printing may rapidly be eifected in successive positions merely by shift-. ing the print head which, ofcourse, carries with it the tubes and hence the print ends of the wires. Such action is possible because of the curvature of the tubes, the radius of which may be varied somewhat without appreciably, it at all, disturbing the relationships (that is, axial displacement) between the print ends or the wires.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

masses? Fig. 1 is a front view partially in section of a wire printer constructed according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken along the line 44 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged View, partly in section, of a portion of the Wire printer shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a timing chart for the printer.

Referring more particularly to Fig. l, the printer is shown as being mounted on a suitable base plate 10. A platen 12 is fixed to the base plate and backs up a suitable recording material such as a tape 14 and a ribbon 16 carried in front of the tape. Any suitable means may be provided for handling the tape and ribbon which may extend through a suitable opening 18 in the base plate, and since these are well known in the art, there is no need to describe them here.

Disposed oppositely of the platen l2 and in front of the ribbon 16 are the printing ends of the plurality of print wires 20. The Wires are slidably supported in tubes 22 which are held together at the print ends of the wires by a print head 24. The other ends of the tubes 22 extend downwardly to where they fan out and are preferably attached to one edge of a fixed guide housing 26. The print wires extend through the guide housing to where they are slidably received in a housing 23 carried by a wire setting mechanism frame and in which they normally terminate along a common line.

The wire setting device shown in the drawing is similar to that disclosed in the copending application previously referred to, and, therefore, will not be described in de tail herein. It should be appreciated, however, that other I and different wire setting devices may be employed with corresponding changes in the nature of the fixed guide housing 26, it being important only that they operate with sufficient speed and effect axial displacement of the wires with respect to each other.

The wire setting device operates upon the ends of the print wires which are received in the housing 28. It includes a rotatable and translatable code rod 32 mounted in the housing 28 and code rod control mechanism mounted on a frame 30. The frame is reciprocable so that the code rod is moved toward and away from the control ends of the print wires.

The housing 28 is formed of two parts, a front plate 28a and a rear plate 28b (Fig. 2). The abutting surfaces of the plates are suitably grooved so that the housing is formed with a plurality of transversely extending wire channels 34 that are aligned respectively with channels 36 in the fixed guide housing 26. The plates are also each grooved vertically to provide a suitable opening 33 for the rod 32.

The control rod 32 is provided with transversely cut notches 40. From a consideration of Fig. 5, it can be seen that if the control rod 32 and housing 28 are moved toward the control ends of the print wires, those wires which enter notches formed in the control rod will undergo relatively less longitudinal displacement than those for which no notch is provided. In practice the rod 32 is moved just far enough to insure that those wire ends for which notches have been provided enter the full length thereof. Of course, the wire ends for which no notches have been provided will have been displaced longitudinally with respect to the remainder of the print wires by a distance equal to the depth of the notches. It can be seen that by providing a suitable combination of notches on the control rod, any character pattern within the limits of the group of print wires may be created.

In order to enable one code rod to provide for the setting up of any one of a large number of characters, it may be rotated and translated so as to present the requisite number of different combinations of notches 49 to the control ends of the print wires 2t). As shown in the copending application, a. control rod may be formed with a group of notches cut transversely on each of four sides. Thus, by rotating the rod in increments of four individual groups of notches may be presented toward the control ends of the print wires. If now in addition provision is made for shifting the rod longitudinally in increments, the spaces on the control rod between the ends of adjacent print wires may be provided with patterns of notches. It will now be evident that the number of different character patterns which may be obtained from the control rod is equal to the product of the number of such longitudinally differentiated incremental or index positions and the number of sides which have been provided with notches and to which the control rod is rotatable. Thus, if twelve longitudinally differentiated index point positions are provided on the rod having notches on four sides, forty-eight different character patterns may be formed on the print wires.

As is also shown in the copending application, supra, the adjustment of a control rod 32 to any of forty-eight different positions may be obtained through the action of six selectively energizable magnets A, B, C, D, E, and F upon two differential adding linkages'operable by a hail 42. One pair of magnets E and F controls one differential adding linkage which through a pull crank 44 and two racks 46 and 48 rotates the code rod 32 to one of its four rotary positions upon operation of the bail 42. The other four magnets, A, B, C, and D control the other differential adding linkage which through three adding levers 56, 52, and 54, shifts the code rod 32 longitudinally to one of its twelve longitudinally differentiated index point positions upon operation of the bail 42.

The frame 30, upon reciprocation of which a code rod setting is translated into a character pattern on the print ends of the wires 20, may be mounted on three studs 56 fixed to the base plate 10. Corresponding elongated slots 58 formed in the frame 39 are slidably embraced by these studs. The normal location of the frame is such that the studs are located in the ends of the slots permitting movement of the wire setting mechanism toward the control ends of the print wires.

The location of the wire setting mechanism is at all times determined by two continuously rotatable single lobed cams 6t) and 61. The cams are respectively mounted on shafts 62 and 63 which rotate once in each machine cycle. The frame movements are caused to follow the contour of the cams by tension springs 64. These springs are anchored at one end to studs 66 fixed to the base plate It? and at the other end in apertures 68 formed in the frame 30. Rollers 76 mounted on studs 72 fixed to the frame engage the cams through the bias of the springs 64. Thus, it can be seen that when the high points on the cams are moved opposite the rollers, the frame will be moved to the right and the code rod will effect selective displacement of the print wires.

Longitudinal movement of each print wire is at all times limited and stabilized. For this purpose a heavy slug 74 is attached to each wire and serves as an inertia member resisting displacement. The slugs are slidably carried by the fixed guide housing 26. The mass of these inertia members is so chosen that when the print ends of the selectively displaced wires are made to strike the platen through the recording material, they will possess sufiicient energy to effect impact printing. Of course, part of the printing force is developed against inertia of wires themselves and the friction between the wires and the tubes. The slugs also insure that the wires will. not be moved by friction between them and the housing 28 of the wire setting mechanism, norby gravity orthe momentum involved when the print head 24 is moved toward and away from the platen 12. Of course, other means assess? may be employed to resist displacement of the wires, as for example, friction.

The fixed guide housing 26, which supports the control ends of the print wires for displacement by the wire setting mechanism, consists of two plates 76 and 78 (Fig. 2) which are held together by means of headed screws tit) extending through suitable openings in the plates 76 and 78 and threaded in the base plate 10. A sleeve (not shown) surrounds each of the screws and acts to hold the guide housing in spaced relation to the base plate.

The guide housing plates are suitably grooved on the abutting sides so as to form channels which snugly yet slidably receive the respective print wires. When the guide housing is assembled the wires are confined to longitudinal movement only. The curved tubes 22 for the print wires are attached at one end to one edge of the guide housing in any suitable manner as by being formed with a flange which is received in an enlarged portion formed in the transversely extending channels in the guide housing. The grooves in the guide housing are also suitably enlarged at an intermediate point 81 to slidably receive the slugs 74. The length of the enlarged portion of the channel :Is so chosen that overthrow of the print wires in the direction of the wire setting device is prevented by engagement of the slugs with theends of these enlarged channel portions.

, The slugs or inertia members also serve the useful purpose of providing a shoulder which can conveniently be engaged to restore the wires after printing. For this purpose, the fixed guide housing 26 is formed with an elongated slot 32 in both plate members and into which the ends of the slugs 74 project. A bent-over ear 84 formed on a common bail 86 extends into the elongated slot 82 and is itself suitably slotted so as to receive the respective print wires and yet abut the shoulders on the slugs.

The bail 86 lies between the base and frame 30 and is movable between a normal position in which the bentover ear 84 thereof is clear of the normal movements of the inertia members or slugs under the action of the wire setting means and a position in which it has restored all the slugs to where the other or control ends of the print wires are aligned. It is supported for movement upon the upper two of the three studs 56 which support the frame 30 for the character pattern forming mechanism. To this end, it is formed with slots which underlie the slots 53 in the frame 30. The ball is biased to a position in which the flange does not interfere with the movement of the inertia members by a pair of springs 88 anchored at one end to the studs 90 projecting from the base plate and at their other ends to ears 92 projecting up and down from an extension 92 of the bail. The position of the bail is at all times determined by a continuously rotatable cam 94 which is engaged by a follower roller 96 on a suitable stud 93 carried by the extension 92. The cam is fixed to a shaft 100 which extends through the extension 92, and for this reason the extension is suitably slotted at 192. The cam shaft rotates at a speed synchronous with that of the shafts 62 and 53 carrying the cams db and 61, respectively.

The curved tubes 22, which extend between the fixed guide housing 26 and the print head 24, hold the print wires 29 against lateral deflection under the influence of endwise forces applied directly to them. At one end, they are rigidly held to the print head to move therewith. The other tube ends, it will be observed, are freely movable because they extend away from the fixed guide hou ing in broad-sweeping curves which permit substantial print head movement before the tubes achieve straight line position.

As shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the print head 24 may be formed as a split block having an enlarged interior opening 104 rectangular in cross section. A screw 105 enables the proper pressure to beapplied to the tubes to fixedly hold them in place. It should be observed that the shape of the opening in the print head determines the closely spaced pattern of dots that can be printed by the print ends of the wires projecting from the tubes. Obviously, the character pattern forming means must be oriented with respect to the arrangement of the tubes in the print head.

The print head is supported for movement toward and away from the platen upon a member 106. A pair of studs 108 projecting outwardly from the member 106 and aligned with the platen are slidably received by an elongated slot 110 formed on the print head. It will be evident that the length of the slot 110 and the location of the studs 108 may be so chosen as to printing stroke.

The member 106 itself is movable across, that is, transversely of, the platen 12 and the recording material. It is slidably carried between upper and lower sets of guide plates 112 and 114 fixed to the base plate 1d. A rod 116, pivotally connected at one end to this member, extends away to where a lever 118 may be conveniently located. One arm of the lever is pivotally connected to the rod 116, and a second arm may be provided whereby, by suitable means (not shown), the print head 1% may be disposed in a number of different printing positions with respect to the recording material.

The pninting stroke, that is, movement of the print head toward and away from the platen, is eltected by means of a cam operated Bowden cable arrangement. One end of the flexible tube 124) of this cable is fixed by a set screw 124 to a block 122 secured to the movable member 106. The tube extends away from this block in a broad sweeping curve to where it is attached by a set screw 125 to a block 126 fixed upon the base plate provide a desired 10. The drive wire 128 projects through the block 122 carried by the member 106 and is fixed as by welding to the print head 24. The other end of the wire projects through the block 126 fixed to the base plate and is suitably secured to a pin 130 rotatably mounted in the free end of a lever 132. The lever 132 is pivoted at an intermediate point 134 and at its other end. is provided with an off-turned ear 136 against which there is biased one end of a compression spring 138. The other end of this compression spring is seated in a hole 1.40 formed in one end of a block 142 carried by the base plate 10. A set screw 144 extends through the other end of this block and into the upper end of the hole and forms a seat for a plate 146 which reacts on its other side against the compression spring 138.

The compression spring 133 causes the lever 132 to follow a drop-off cam 148. This cam is mounted on a shaft 150 rotatable in synchronism with the other shafts 62, 63, and 100. When the roller drops otf the high point of the cam to a low point thereon, the lever 132 pivots counterclockwise, as seen in Fig. 1, forcing the drive Wire 128 through the tube 120 and out of the other end thereof so as to move the print head 24 to where the print wires 20 projecting from the tubes strike the recording material backed up by the platen.

It may be noted that the lever is in. effect driven by spring action. Thus not only may the driving force on the print head be accurately controlled, but there is also obtained a uniformity of force substantially independent of any variation in the speed of the printer.

It should also be observed that the shifting of the print head transversely of the platen does not in any way interfere with the operation ofthe printing stroke to produce non-uniformity in printing. This is because the curvature of the tube 120 bearing the drive wire 128 for the print head is such that displacement of the end of the tube does not eifect a displacement of the wire therein. While the print head has been shown as being movable transversely of the platen in one direction only, it can be appreciated that such transverse movement need not be limited to onedirection and that movements elfective to dispose the print head opposite any point in the platen may be employed, if desired.

Operation of the wire printer may be best understood with reference to the timing chart of Fig. 6. While the timings indicated on that chart are of a preferred nature, it will be realized that they may be departed from in many instances without adversely affecting the operation of the machine. A wire printer, such as this, may form part of the tabulating'machine which operates according to a predetermined cycle and that, therefore, the printer must be operated in step with that cycle. In a cyclically operated machine the parts are operated periodically and if in the previous tabulating cycle, pulses representative of a character were transmitted to one or more of the magnets A through F of the wire setting mechanism, such character will be printed in the following cycle.

The cycle may be assumed as beginning upon the movement of the wire setting or character pattern forming means against the aligned control ends of the print Wires. As seen in Fig. 1, the high points on cams 60 and 63 operated upon the rollers 70 carried by the frame so as to move the code rod 32 against the control ends of the print wires. This results in selective displacement of the print wires, as explained hereinbefore, which displacement is completed at 90 of cycle time. The high points on these cams then recede and the character pattern forming means is restored to its normal position by the action of the springs 64.

With the restoration of the character pattern forming means, the drop 01f cam 148 begins to move the lever 132, which controls the operation of the print head, against the action of the spring 138. At 180 of cycle time, the lever 132 drops off the high point of cam 134 to the low point thereof with the result that the lever swings and shoves the drive wire 128 in the tube 120 to Where the print head 24 carries the wire print ends against the recording material backed up by the platen. The dwell level of the cam is soon obtained so as to allow a maximum of time for shifting the recording material 14 and 16 and/ or movement of the print head 24 transversely of the platen 12.

After printing, the coded rod set up bail 42 adjusts the code rod 32 for the new character that is to be printed in the following cycle. This adjustment is completed at 270 of cycle time and the bail 42 is restored during the remainder of the cycle.

Upon completion-of the adjustment of the code rod 32, the wire restoring bail 86 may be safely operated. Preferably, the bail is not operated before, so that none of the control ends of the print wires will inadvertently be disposed within the code rod opening 38 in the housing 28 during the adjustment of the code rod. Thus the high point of the cam 94, which begins at 270, reaches a maximum at 360. The high point recedes during the first 90 of the following cycle and in step with the movement of the wire setting device so as to prevent overthrow of the print wires by the wire setting device. It should be observed that at zero time all of the print wires are in a restored condition and ready to be displaced by the wire setting device.

It should be noted that an apparatus of the type described is not limited in its use to the forming of well known characters on a paper through a transfer medium such as an inking ribbon, but rather, that it may be employed to effect any coded representation in other ways as well as by punching or embossing. The terms print and printing are intended to comprehend these other methods of recording.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the in vention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be also understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: 7

1. In a printer of the type in which a character is formed upon a recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the grouped ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the print wires with respect to each other, a plurality of print wires having printing ends, guide means supporting said print wires at their other ends, curved-flexible tubes snugly encompassing the respective wires between said guide means and the print ends thereof, means restraining said print wires against free endwise movement, character pattern forming means operable upon said print wires to effect selective displacement of the print ends thereof, a print head secured to the ends of the flexible tubes adjacent the print ends of the print wires, means supporting said print head for movement toward and away from said platen, means supporting said print head supporting means for movement transversely of said platen, means operable to move said print head so that the corresponding ends of said tubes carry the print ends against the platen, and means operable to move the print head supporting means so as to dispose the print head for dilferent printing positions with respect to said piaten.

2. in a printer of the type in which a character is formed upon a recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the grouped ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the print wires with respect to each other, a plurality of print wires having printing ends, guide means supporting said print wires at their other ends, curved-flexible tubes encompassing the wires between said guide means and the print ends thereof, a print head to which are secured in a group the ends of said tubes adjacent the print ends of said wires, wire setting means movable against the other ends of said wires to effect selective longitudinal displacement thereof, means restraining free endwise movement of said wires with respect to each other, means supporting said print head for movement toward and away from the platen, means supporting the print head supporting means for transverse movement with respect to said platen, means operable to move said print head toward and away from said platen so that the wire print ends strike the recording material, means operable to restore the displaced print wires after printing, and means operable to move the means supporting the print head to different positions in which the wire print head will strike the recording material upon the platen at different points.

3. In a cyclically operated apparatus of the type in which dififerent characters may be successively formed upon a recording material by repetitive relative move ment between such recording material and the grouped ends of a plurality of wires upon which different character patterns may be formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the wires, a plurality of wires, means confining ends of said wires into a group and by which they are movable against recording material, guide means supporting the wires at their other ends, adjustable character pattern forming means movable against the other ends of said wires to effect selective longittulinal displacement thereof, means movable to restore the displaced wires, means operable in each cycle to move the character pattern forming means against the other ends of said wires, means to operate the said confining means to move the grouped ends against the recording material, means operable thereafter to adjust the character pattern forming means, and means operable after operation of the confining means to' move the wire restoring means.

4. In a cyclically operated printer of the type in which different characters may be successively formed upon a recording material by repetitive relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the grouped print ends of a plurality of wires upon which different character patterns may be formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the print Wires, a plurality of print wires, means confining the print ends of said wires into a group and by which they are movable against a platen, guide means supporting the print wires at their other ends, adjustable character pattern forming means movable against the other ends of said print wires to effect selective longitudinal displacement thereof, means movable to restore the displaced print wires, means supporting said confining means for movement toward and away from said platen, mean-s supporting said confining means supporting means for movement transversely of said platen, means operable in each cycle to move the character pattern forming means against the other ends of said print wires, means operable upon said confining means thereafter so as to move the wire print ends against the recording material, means operable thereafter to adjust the character pattern forming means, means operable after movement of the confining means to move the wire restoring means, and means operable after the movement of the confining means to move said confining means supporting means.

5. In a cyclically operated printer of the type in which different characters may be successively formed upon a recording material by repetitive relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the grouped print ends of a plurality of wires upon which different character patterns may be formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the print wires, a plurality of print wires having printing end guide means supporting said print wires at their other ends, a curved-flexible tube snugly encompassing each of said print wires between said guide means and the print end thereof, a print head to which are secured the ends of said tubes adjacent the wire print ends, adjustable character pattern forming means operable upon the other ends of said print wires to effect selective longitudinal displacement thereof, means supporting said print head for-movement toward and away from said platen, means supporting said print head supporting means for movement transversely of said platen, an inertia member secured to each of said wires, means movable against said inertia members to restore said wires, means operable during a cycle to move the adjustable character forming means against the other ends of said print wires, means operable thereafter to move the print head so that the associated ends of the flexible tubes carry the print ends of the wires against recording material backed up by the platen, means operable thereafter to adjust the character pattern forming means, means operable after movement of the print head to move the wire restoring means, and means operable after movement of the print head to the print head supporting means. t

6. In a cyclically operated printer, a platen for backing up a recording material, a plurality of print wires having printing ends, fixed guidemeans supporting said wires at their other ends, curved flexible tubes slidably receiving the respective wires between their print ends and the guide means and secured at their one ends to theiatter, a print head secured to the ends of said tubes adjacent the wire print ends, a character pattern forming means movable against the other ends of said wires to effect selective displacement thereor and then withdrawable therefrom, a collar fixed to each wire, means movable against said collars to restore said wires, means supporting said print head for movement in which the print ends of the wires strike recording material backed up by the platen, and means for moving said print head so that the wires strike the recording material after the character pattern forming means has been withdrawn.

7. In a wire printer, a platen for backing up a recordi0 ing material, a plurality of wires having printing ends, a fixed guide means supporting said wires at their other ends, curved flexible tubing encompassing said wires between said guide means and the print ends thereof and secured at their one ends to the guide means, a print head fixed to the end of said tubing adjacent the print ends of said wires, character pattern forming means operable upon the other ends of the print wires to effect a selective displacement thereof, means supporting said print head for movement in which the tubing carries the projecting wire print ends against the recording material backed up by the platen, and means for moving said print head after operation of the character pattern forming means so that the print wires may undergo yielding displacement when carried against the recording material.

8. in a recording apparatus, a plurality of curved tubes, wires mounted in the respective tubes and projecting from each end thereof, means confining ends of said curved tubes into a group, means fixedlylocating the other ends of said tubes, means operable upon the ends of said wire projecting from the other ends of said tubes to selectively effect longitudinai displacement of the grouped ends of said wires so as to form a character pattern thereon, means for moving said confining means to where the longitudinally displaced wires projecting from the grouped ends of said tubes undergo impact with recording material and without afiecting the location of the other ends of said tubes, and inertia slugs attached to the ends of said wires projecting from the other ends of said tubes to restrain said wires against endwise movement during impact with the recording material.

9. In a wire printer, a support, a plurality of flexible tubes each fixed at one end to said support, means supporting the other ends of said tubes in a group and so tha a curve exists in each and movable in the direction of the other ends of said tubes, a print wire supported slidably in each tube and so as to project from the movable ends of the tubes, character pattern forming means operable upon said wires to effect selective longitudinal displacement thereof, and means for moving the tube supporting means so as to move the displaced print wires through an impact stroke.

10. In a wire printer, a support, a plurality of curved tubes each fixed at one end to said support, a print head movably mounted on said support and confining the free ends of said tubes into a group and secured thereto, a print wire supported siidably in each tube and so as to project from the fixed ends thereof, an. inertia slug fixed to the print wire end projecting from the fixed end of each tube, character pattern forming means operable upon said wires to effect selective longitudinal displacement thereof, and means for moving the print head so as to move the print wires through an impact stroke.

11. In a wire printer, a platen, a support fixed relative to said platen, a print head movable towards and away from said platen and transversely'oi said platen, a plurality of print wires respectively having; control ends and printing ends, flexible guide means for the respective print wires fined at one end to said support and at their other ends to said print headIfor movement therewith,

, means operable upon the control ends of said print wires for selectively efiecting longitudinal displacement of said print wires so as to form a character pattern upon the printing ends thereof, means operable thereafter to move the print head toward and away from said platen so as to effect a printing stroke, and means operable to shift said print head transversely of said platen so as to permit printing at difierent points with respect thereto.

12. In a wire printer, a platen, a support fixed relative to said platen, a print head movable towards and away from said platen and transversely of said platen, a print wire having a control end and a printing end, a flexible guide means for the print wire fixed at one end to said support and at its other end to said print head for movement therewith, means operable upon the control end of said print wire to adjust it longitudinally between positions in which the print end is disposed for printing and in which it is not disposed for printing, means operable to move said print head toward and away from said platen so as to carry the printing end of the print wire to effect printing impact when the wire is in printing position, and means operable to shift the print head transversely of said platen so as to permit printing at different points with respect to said platen.

13. In an apparatus of the type in which a character is formed upon recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the group ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the wires with respect to each other, a platen, a plurality of print wires, flexible tubes for slidably accommodating the respective print wires, a print head fixed to the tubes at their one ends and so as to gather them in a group and movable towards and away from the platen so as to cause projecting print wires to undergo printing impact with recording material thereon, a fixed support to which the other ends of the tubes are so secured that a curve obtains in each permitting movement of the one ends of the tubes with the print head without atfecting the other ends, character pattern forming means operable upon the print wires to impart selective longitudinal displacement thereto, and other means operable upon operation of the character pattern forming means to move the print head through an impact stroke.

14. In an apparatus of the type in which a character is formed upon recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the group ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the wires with respect to each other, a platen, a plurality of print wires, flexible tubes for slidably accommodating the respective print wires, a print head fixed to the tubes at their one ends and so as to gather them in a group and movable towards and away from the platen so as to cause projecting print wires to undergo printing impact with recording material thereon, a fixed support to which the other ends of the tubes are so secured that a curve obtains in each permitting movement of the one ends of the tubes with the print head without affecting the other ends, said print wires having control ends projecting from the other ends of the tube and beyond the support, wire setting means movable against the control ends to impart longitudinal displacement to selected ones of the print wires and thereafter movable out of engagement with said control ends, and other means operable upon withdrawal of the wire setting means to move the print head through an impact stroke.

15. In an apparatus of the type in which a character is formed upon recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the group ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the wires with respect to each other, a platen, a plurality of print wires, flexible tubes for slidably accommodating the respective print wires, a print head fixed to the tubes at their one ends and so as to gather them in a group and movable towards and away from the platen so as to cause projecting print wires to undergo printing impact with recording material thereon, a fixed support to which the other ends of the tubes are so secured that a curve obtains in each permitting, movement of the one ends of the tubes with the print head without aflecting the other ends, means restraining said wires against free endwise movement, character pattern forming means operable upon the print wires to impart selective longitudinal displacement thereto, and other means operable upon operation of the character pattern forming means to move the print head through an impact stroke.

16. In an apparatus of the type in which a character is formed upon recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the group ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the wires with respect to each other, a platen, a plurality of print wires, flexible tubes for slidably accommodating the respective print wires, a print head fixed to the tubes at their one ends and so as to gather them in a group and movable towards and away from the platen so as to cause projecting print wires to undergo printing impact with recording material thereon, a fixed support to which the other ends of the tubes are so secured that a curve obtains in each permitting movement of the one ends of the tubes with the print head without aitecting the other ends, character pattern forming means operable upon the print wires to impart selective longitudinal displacement thereto, other means operable upon operation of the character pattern forming means to move the print head through an impact stroke, a collar fixed to each print wire, and means engageable with the collar of each print wire to restore the selectively displaced print wires after each impact stroke.

17. In an apparatus of the type in which a character is formed upon recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the group ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the wires with respect to each other, a platen, a plurality of print wires, flexible tubes for slidably accommodating the respective print wires, a print head fixed to the tubes at their one ends and so as to gather them in a group and movable towards and away from the platen so as to cause projecting print Wires to undergo printing impact with recording material thereon, a fixed support to which the other ends of the tubes are so secured that a curve obtains in each permitting movement of the one ends of the tubes with the print head without affecting the other ends, said print wires having control ends projecting from the other ends of the tube and beyond the support, inertia slugs for the respective wires fixed to the control ends thereof projecting from the ends of the tubes secured to the fixed support to prevent free endwise movement of the print wires, wire setting means movable against the control ends to impart longitudinal displacement to selected ones of the print wires and thereafter movable out of engagement with said control ends, and other means operable upon withdrawal of the wire setting means to move the print head through an impact stroke.

18. In an apparatus of the type in which a character is formed upon recording material by relative movement between a platen backing up such recording material and the group ends of a plurality of print wires upon which a character pattern is formed by selective longitudinal displacement of the wires with respect to each other, a platen, a plurality of print wires, flexible tubes for slidably accommodating the respective print wires, a print head fixed to the tubes at their one ends and so as to gather them in a group and movable towards and away from the platen so as to cause projecting print wires to undergo printing impact with recording material thereon, a fixed support to which the other ends of the tubes are so secured that a curve obtains in each permitting movement of the one ends of the tubes with the print head Without affecting the other ends, said print wires having control ends projecting from the other ends of the tube and beyond the support, inentia slugs for the respective wires fixed to the control ends thereof projecting from the other ends of the tubes secured to the fixed support to prevent free endwise movement of the print wires, wire setting means movable against the control ends to impart longitudinal displacement to selected ones of the print wires and thereafter movable out of engagement with said control ends, other means operable upon Withdrawal of the Wire setting means to move the 5 print head through an impact stroke, and means engageable with the inertia slugs after each impact stroke to restore the associated print Wires from their lingitudinally displaced positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 14 Going May 9, 1933 Loop Sept. 6, 1938 Roth July 4, 1944 Johnson Oct. 3, 1950 Ackell June 17, 1952 Hyland Mar. 24, 1953 Wockenfuss Aug. 11, 1953 Wockenfuss Sept. 29, 1953 Rast June 22, 1954 Wockenfuss July 13, 1954- FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 16, 1937 

